Handspun mittens and Prairie Boots

Last weekend I made these mittens. The pattern is Fern by Anniken Allis from the March issue of Yarn Forward.

The yarn I used was some that I'd spun myself on my drop spindle. It was some Jacob cross that I'd carded together with a little red and a little violet commercially dyed merino.

I'm really pleased with the way that they turned out and they're toasty warm.

The other knitting I've been on recently (well actually I finished them a few weeks ago) are these Prairie Boots. They were knitted from some Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed that I've had in my stash for some time (I love stashbusting). They didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. Despite using smaller needles that specified in the pattern in order to get the tension right they still seem a bit loose (and I made the smallest size). On the other hand they do the job that they're intended to do very well indeed. I made them because I was getting cold ankles from the howling gale that was blowing across my living room floor and they are brilliant at keeping my legs and feet from frostbite.

The buttons are some that I made myself from left over yarn. Unfortunately I can't remember where I got the idea from.

Short and sweet (?)

I'm not going to post a whole lot of stuff this week because it hasn't been one of my best weeks. I had a bit of a rubbish time on my run this week which involved;

• leaving my sack trolley behind at my first customer so it wasn't available for the delivery where I can't park near the shop and have to take the order (three quarters of a ton) by hand off the truck and along the road into the shop;
• having an argument with a driver who just as I was about to leave said drop reversed right up to the front of the truck so I hadn't got room to pull round her car and when I tried to draw her attention to it just walked off and ignored me!!!! (I was quite rude to her);
• and to top it all when I stopped at the services on the way home because I was literally falling asleep at the wheel my truck got clamped because I'd inadvertently parked in a caravan bay rather than a truck bay (recently reallocated space, I hadn't noticed). It cost £250 to get un-clamped and I was raging as I'd been in the building less than ten minutes (toilet and a take out coffee) and it just seems so sneaky, they must watch out for it and pounce as soon as your back's turned.

Needless to say I was pleased to get home this week but there's talk of a "snow incident" later this week so that should be fun too. :(

I've been doing a little bit of fibrey stuff this weekend. I'm working on my longdraw technique using some Torwen that was given to me by a fellow Raveler and some stuff that came free with my Orkney when I bought it. This, together with a chunk of Herdwick which I won in the raffle at a guild meeting last year is going to be woven into a small rug. I need to get a new heddle for the loom, 5dpi or 7.5, not sure yet. Ro gave me some warping thread a while ago so that's what I'll be up to next.

I'm also spinning up some silk hanky that I bought from Wingham, but I'm doing that on my drop spindle. It's a really pretty colour, very deep plum, black and brown. Here it is together with some silk that I spun from a hanky before on the spindle and another (cerise coloured) hanky. Bit wild eh? I thought they might knit or weave up into a nice little bag or something?